Strait of Hormuz traffic falls to new low as Iran-backed Houthis kill 6 in Red Sea, authorities say

Pakistan’s interior minister is visiting Iran to discuss regional security, stability and other developments, the Pakistani foreign office said Wednesday, as Islamabad tries to mediate a resolution to the Iran war.

Mohsin Naqvi, who has previously been involved in mediation efforts between Iran and the U.S., is known to be close to the powerful head of the Pakistani army, Asim Munir.

Iranian state news agency IRNA reported late Tuesday that Naqvi met with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni.

“He is discussing bilateral relations, security, regional security and stability, and constructive engagement amongst the parties in the region and regional developments,” Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi told reporters in Islamabad.

The Iranian government’s website said Naqvi conveyed to Pezeshkian “a message from the Pakistani prime minister and the chief of the army,” without specifying its content.

Pakistan’s defense minister told Bloomberg in Islamabad on Tuesday that the U.S. and Iran are close to “some sort of an arrangement.”

“Things are shaping up again in favor of a peace arrangement or a deal,” he said. “The signals in the last two three days are that we are close to some sort of an arrangement.”

Last week, Iran said it had agreed a route with neighbouring Oman for ships transiting the strait and was finalising arrangements for jointly managing the strategic waterway.

On Tuesday the U.S. military announced that it had fired on a Panama-flagged cargo ship that attempted to break the American blockade of Iran’s ports.

CBS/AFP